Lamp or light bulb displays to provide the effect of lights that appear to move or travel along a path are well known in the art and are used extensively. This type of lighting is often referred to as "marquee" lighting. In the prior art, such marquee lighting includes lamps mounted in a permanent display.
Strands of lights for displays and as ornamental accents such as Christmas lights are well known. Likewise, miniature lamps mounted on a flexible tape are known, for example, see U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,225 wherein a row of miniature lamps are wired between two strips of flexible tape and the lamps are inserted in holes in the tape and connected to wires to provide a continuous, stationary light effect. The structure and circuitry of U.S. Pat. No. 3,894,225 lack any capability for making the lights appear to move.
The present invention relates to a means for providing discrete lights on a length of flexible base strip including a printed circuit thereon which is arranged for connection to a control circuit for effecting a moving or traveling light display. The term "printed circuit" as used herein refers to the type of circuit, known in the art, which is comprised of conductive strips printed, etched, pasted, laminated, etc. onto an insulating base material. Note that the flexibility of the base strip of the invention may be varied for different applications, and may comprise a tape or ribbon with a high degree of flexibility such as indicated in FIG. 1.